The Republicans Had Better Get Organized on Health Care

If the past week is any indication, the Republicans will have real trouble come 2012 trying to convince voters they have a plan to fix the American health care system.Last weekend, President Obama endorsed the Wyden-Brown bill that would give the states the opportunity, in 2014, to take their share of the almost $1 trillion the new health law collects and use it to craft an alternative health

State High Risk Pools For the Uninsured--Who Would Want To Be In Them?

What do we do with people who are uninsurable because they have a pre-existing medical condition?That is a particularly important question as both McCain and Obama propose reforming American health care by building on the private health insurance system.One of the solutions being discussed--by McCain among others--is to use state-based risk pools. Under McCain's plan heavily dependent on an

The UAW's Negotiations With the "Big Three" Automakers Over Retiree Health Benefits and Why They are Important to California Health Reform

The health care reform debate in California has come down to whether there should be an individual mandate to purchase health insurance and whether a big chunk of the cost of the program should be put on the employer community in the form of a 7.5% payroll tax for businesses that don't provide their workers with coverage.Organized labor is firmly behind the Democratic legislature's efforts to

People Who Say Insurance Regulation Creates More Uninsured Are Missing the Forest for the Trees

The health insurance trade association, AHIP, just released a new study on the impact of state health insurance reforms on the market and argues that the "unintended consequences" of these reforms hasn't been good.Here is an excerpt from their release:“This report offers important lessons. It demonstrates that insurance reforms without universal access drives up health care costs for consumers

Romney Wants to Reform State Health Insurance Regulation--Just What Does He Mean by That?

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is calling for the cutting of state health insurance regulations to make policies more affordable. He blames the over-regulation of health insurance at the state level as one of the primary reasons health insurance costs so much.Of course the reason that health insurance costs so much is that health care costs so much, but we’ve discussed that one

California Health Care Reform—An Individual Mandate is Nowhere Near as Important as Affordable Health Insurance

California is entering the final weeks of a major effort to reform the state’s health insurance system.Good for them and in particular good for Governor Schwarzenegger who is willing to tackle this most prickly of domestic policy issues!The Governor and the legislature will need to get a deal done by the end of September if it is going to happen in this session—or maybe for a long time to come.As

New Tool Kit: Massachusetts Health Reform

Ed Howard and his team at the non-partisan Alliance for Health Reform here in Washington have done another of their great jobs in putting together a resource for anyone interested in the Massachusetts health reform plan.From their overview:"Starting July 1, every adult in Massachusetts is required to have health coverage (except for 60,000 people exempted by the state). To help you understand the

Another Victory Declared in Massachusetts--The Connector Exempts 20% of Uninsured State Residents From the Requirement to Buy a Health Plan

The only place there are more victories being declared than in Iraq these days is in Massachusetts.The Massachusetts Health Plan regulator, "The Commonwealth Connector," has issued new rules that will exempt an estimated 20% of the uninsured from a state legal requirement to purchase health insurance.Since the health plan bids came in last month, it has been clear the prices would not make it

California Fines Wellpoint $1 Million for "Unfairly" Rescinding Health Insurance Polices--Was Wellpoint Fair or Not?

The California Department of Managed Health Care has fined Wellpoint $1 million because it says Wellpoint "routinely" violated state law when it canceled (or rescinded) individual health insurance policies after the policyholders filed claims. The state said that Wellpoint made no attempt to determine whether the policyholders merited such "harsh" treatment when it canceled the policies.From a

The Massachusets Health Plan's Inability to Offer Affordable Health Insurance Premiums Will Stall-Out Other State's Efforts in Health Reform

Now that we know Massachusetts is not going to be able to offer affordable health insurance to the middle class, we can expect to see other similar state health reform efforts stall-out.Both California and Pennsylvania have already started down the Massachusetts health care reform road. But when state legislators find that families making $50,000 or $60,000 a year would be mandated under state

The Massachusetts Health Plan Will Turn Out to Be Little More Than a Fancy Expansion of Medicaid--Bids Come In At $250 Per Person Per Month

For weeks we have been warning that the Massachusetts health reform plan is at a critical point. The second round of health plan bids came out no better than the first. That did nothing to alleviate concerns that Massachusetts will not be able to mandate that its citizens buy the costly coverage.The first health plan bids averaged $380 per person per month. A family of three would have to pay

Deja Vu in Massachusetts--We've Been Down this Road Before--The Massachusetts Health Care Plan and Health Care Costs

The good news is that the health policy world is full of new and exciting health care reform proposals.The bad news is that while these plans focus on the all important access problems (the uninsured) they almost ignore the underlying problem that makes so many people uninsured in the first place--health care costs.With the federal government (The National Health Statistics Group at CMS)

President Bush Has a Proven Strategy to Fix the Individual Health Insurance System!!!

The Bush administration has already implemented an individual health insurance system that is voluntary, community rated, and excludes no one--no matter what their age or health status.President Bush's recent proposal to reform the health insurance system (see post) is based upon greater use of the individual health insurance system. He would eliminate the employee tax exemption on

10 Bipartisan Senators Offer a Health Care Reform Outline

Just a few weeks ago I wrote a post that began, it's a new day in the health care debate. Health care reform is breaking out all over.My point was that I haven't seen such enthusiasm for reform since the early 90's and the resulting Clinton Health Plan effort. Everyone seems to have a plan--not the least of which are offered by some very powerful bedfellows.That trend continued this week when

Mitt Romney Looking for Support Among Conservative Republicans--A Health Care Achilles Heel?

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is working hard to boost his popularity among conservative Republicans. He seems to be saying all the right things for conservatives. That, plus the longstanding suspicion conservative Republicans have had for both Rudy Giuliani and John McCane have given Romney a shot at the party's powerful conservative wing.Romney has a certain amount of health care

Don't Forget Consumer Choice in Reforming the Health Care System!

Bill Boyles is the publisher of Consumer Driven Market Report and Health Market Survey. He is one of the most effective spokesmen for the consumer driven movement and the effectiveness of the market in managing the cost and quality of care.Today, he reminds us that those offering the new reform proposals shouldn't forget consumer choice:The Uninsured Need Consumer Choice FirstThe only humane way

It's the Cost of Health Care Stupid!!!

We have seen a number of new health care proposals--many I recently cited in a post.My old friend and health care policy mentor, Henry Simmons, who is President of the National Coalition on Health Care, recently released a statement on President Bush's health care proposal.One of the key points he made is that any health reform proposal must be comprehensive and able to slow the growth in health

Good for the Governor of California!!!!

Governor Schwarzenegger’s new health plan proposal is full of controversy.It puts a provider tax on doctors and hospitals (which the docs have predictably already attacked), it hits HMO profits by putting a 15% cap on expenses and profits (WellPoint is currently operating on about a 20% expense and profit margin), and it mandates that both individuals, and employers with more than 10 employees,